Safety Training Net -Jan '25 🧐 📆 💥
New Upskilling Wheel, 2025 Safety Training Calendar, Emotional Intelligence (plus audio and activity for VIPs), and Safety Jenga
Happy New Year Subscribers! Although we are only a month into 2025, I hope you are all having a great year and excited for the next 11 months of safety training. If you are a new subscriber, don’t forget, you have access to the past 3 months of newsletters, and if you are a VIP subscriber, you have access to everything created and shared over the last 4 years. All of this content and related links can be found on The Safety Training Net homepage. If you are not yet a VIP subscriber, I hope you’ll consider upgrading today!
Upskilling in 2025
In 2024, I introduced the idea of an Upskilling Wheel to help guide your professional development efforts. We all know we need to keep learning but figuring out what areas to consider can be challenging. I have been researching hot topics, trend reports, industry forecasts and more and have narrowed down recommended topics for 2025. You will see the 12 topics for this year in the chart below. I include a brief summary of each topic in the monthly issues as well as a related training activity and/or additional resources. If you are interested in 2024’s topics, click here. In December, VIP subscribers received an ebook of all 2024 Upskilling topics and activities combined so if you are a new VIP, you can find that download link in the VIP Section below. The 2025 Upskilling Chart is shown below.
The first upskilling topic of the year is Emotional Intelligence (EI). While the connection between EI and safety is not a new idea, many sources report an increased focus on the importance of soft skills. Many also say that the need for soft skills increases as the reliance on technology also increases.
We know that EI can help create safer work environments.
Leaders with good EI can read situations and anticipate dangers before they become incidents.
Safety pros and trainers with good EI are better communicators.
Those with good EI may be better able to de-escalate tense situations and better manage emergencies.
With respect to safety training, having good EI can help when facilitating a training class. Trainers with a high level of EI can recognize and read trainees’ feelings better and modify their delivery and possibly the content when signals show it would provide a better learning experience.
There are many resources available to go deeper in Emotional Intelligence, including the following three articles*:
What is emotional intelligence and how does it apply to the workplace? by Mental Health America
Emotional Intelligence: Assessing It’s Importance in Safety Leadership by Richard Olawoyin
Emotional Intelligence: A Crucial Human Dynamic for OSH by E. Scott Geller
Note: In the Oct. ‘24 issue of The Safety Training Net, I mentioned NotebookLM, an AI-powered research and note-taking tool developed by Google Labs. One of my favorite offerings at NotebookLM is the ability to create a podcast from uploaded sources. If you are like me and have more time to listen than read articles, you might want to check this out. I have created a NotebookLM podcast using the above three sources. If you want to check it out, you can listen 🎧 here on The Safety Training Net site. I’ve also created a study guide for VIPs (link below) who want to go deeper.
Finally, I have created a new activity, Disruptors and Fixers, for VIP subscribers to help train others on EI and why it’s important. The download link can be found in the VIP section below.
VIPs also have access to a sample EI PowerPoint file that can be edited as needed. You can find the access link below.
Safety Training Calendar
Each year, I share a Safety Training Calendar that highlights significant events in safety and health, as well as suggested training topics for each month. This year, I’ve also included a download link with each month that leads to a related activity. You can download the 2025 Calendar here.
In the past, several major explosions occurred in the month of January, including the Methane Explosion in the Sago Mine (2006), the Boston Molasses Explosion (1919), and the Burns Lake Fire and Explosion (2012). The related activity for January is a Dust Explosion Crossword Puzzle that provides a way to educate trainees on the hazards associated with combustible dusts. You can download the puzzle using the QR code on the calendar or here.
Note: If you aren’t familiar with why crossword puzzles can be great learning activities, you can read why in a post on the SafetyFUNdamentals blog.
Game On!
Welcome to a new section of The Safety Training Net where subscribers share their favorite safety training activity. This month, subscriber Brandy Zadoorian has graciously shared her Safety Jenga game and provided the file for download. Brandy’s example was created for a suicide prevention awareness class but you can easily adapt it for any topic. Thanks for sharing Brandy!
Brandy received a free year of VIP membership as a thank-you for sharing her activity. If you would like to share your favorite activity and help other safety trainers, please reply to this email and let me know. Thanks!
VIP Section
Hi VIP! Thank you so much for being a paid subscriber and supporting this newsletter. Many of the resources in this newsletter are only available to you and these download links are provided in the section below. The Safety Training Net is still only $50/year so if you know someone who could benefit from these resources, please use the button below to refer them to this site. Thank you!